Network time parameter configuration based on logical host group

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, at least one processing device is configured to assign a plurality of devices of a cluster to a logical host group where at least one of the devices assigned to the logical host group has a network time parameter that is different than another of the devices assigned to the logical host group. The at least one processing device is further configured to determine a target network time parameter for the logical host group based at least in part on network time parameter related information about a given device of the plurality of devices assigned to the logical host group and to cause the plurality of devices to configure their respective network time parameters to the target network time parameter based at least in part on the assignment of the plurality of devices to the logical host group.

FIELD

The field relates generally to information processing systems, and moreparticularly to network time configurations in information processingsystems.

BACKGROUND

Device management consoles (DMCs), hypervisor hosts, physical hostdevices/servers and virtual machines (VMs)/containers are oftenconfigured with different network time protocol (NTP) services for timemanagement. In some cases, there may be a time mismatch between the DMCand the physical server, hypervisor host and VM/container which maycause or expose potential functional and security challenges.

In a large datacenter, lab administrators are typically responsible forinstalling and managing the DMCs and VM administrators are typicallyresponsible for handling the hypervisor administration. In some cases,such a division of labor may create opportunities for possiblemisconfigurations of the NTP between the DMC, hypervisor hosts, physicalhost devices, physical servers and hosted VMs/containers.

In a cloud datacenter environment, where there may be a mandate that allphysical servers stay in the same time zone, the NTP may be configuredto the host devices based on the customer's geographical location. Thelab administrators often have to manually configure the NTP settings forall of the host devices which are part of the same cluster. For example,each cluster may be running with a different NTP setting based on how itis configured. Ensuring that the NTP configuration for the host devicesin a cluster are the same as the cluster NTP often requires significantmanual effort and may be a time-consuming task for the labadministrator. Such manual configurations may also be prone to apotential configuration error.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises at least one processing devicecomprising a processor coupled to memory. The at least one processingdevice is configured to assign a plurality of devices of a cluster to alogical host group where at least one of the devices assigned to thelogical host group has a network time parameter that is different thananother of the devices assigned to the logical host group. The at leastone processing device is further configured to determine a targetnetwork time parameter for the logical host group based at least in parton network time parameter related information about a given device ofthe plurality of devices assigned to the logical host group and to causethe plurality of devices to configure their respective network timeparameters to the target network time parameter based at least in parton the assignment of the plurality of devices to the logical host group.

These and other illustrative embodiments include, without limitation,apparatus, systems, methods and processor-readable storage media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing system configuredwith NTP configuration functionality in an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example datacenter environmentin an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a table illustrating example technical support issues in anillustrative embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for NTPconfiguration in an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example information flow inthe datacenter environment of FIG. 2 in an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example assignment of logicalhost groups (LHGs) in the datacenter environment of FIG. 2 in anillustrative embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process andconfiguration for determining an NTP mismatch in an illustrativeembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example node structure fordetermining an NTP mismatch according to the process and configurationof FIG. 7 in an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an interaction of an example NTPconfiguration prediction engine (NCPE) with a backend server to generateNTP configurations for the datacenter environment of FIG. 2 in anillustrative embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an example process for performing NTPconfiguration in an illustrative embodiment.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show examples of processing platforms that may beutilized to implement at least a portion of an information processingsystem in illustrative embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments will be described herein with reference toexemplary information processing systems and associated computers,servers, storage devices and other processing devices. It is to beappreciated, however, that these and other embodiments are notrestricted to the particular illustrative system and deviceconfigurations shown. Accordingly, the term “information processingsystem” as used herein is intended to be broadly construed, so as toencompass, for example, processing systems comprising cloud computingand storage systems, as well as other types of processing systemscomprising various combinations of physical and virtual processingresources. An information processing system may therefore comprise, forexample, at least one data center or other cloud-based system thatincludes one or more clouds hosting multiple tenants that share cloudresources. Numerous different types of enterprise computing and storagesystems are also encompassed by the term “information processing system”as that term is broadly used herein.

FIG. 1 shows an information processing system 100 configured inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment. The information processingsystem 100 comprises a computer system 101 that includes host devices102-1, 102-2, . . . 102-N. The host devices 102 communicate over anetwork 104 with a storage system 105, a DMC 111 and a backend system113. The computer system 101 is assumed to comprise an enterprisecomputer system, cloud-based computer system or other arrangement ofmultiple compute nodes associated with respective users. The hostdevices 102 of the computer system 101 in some embodimentsillustratively provide compute services such as execution of one or moreapplications on behalf of each of one or more users associated withrespective ones of the host devices 102.

The host devices 102, storage system 105, DMC 111 and backend system 113illustratively comprise respective processing devices of one or moreprocessing platforms. For example, the host devices 102, the storagesystem 105, DMC 111 and backend system 113 can each comprise one or moreprocessing devices each having a processor and a memory, possiblyimplementing virtual hosts such as, e.g., virtual machines, containers,virtual appliances, or other virtualization infrastructure, althoughnumerous other configurations are possible.

The host devices 102, the storage system 105, the DMC 111 and thebackend system 113 can additionally or alternatively be part of cloudinfrastructure such as an Amazon Web Services (AWS) system. Otherexamples of cloud-based systems that can be used to provide one or moreof host devices 102, storage system 105, DMC 111 and backend system 113include Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Microsoft Azure.

The host devices 102, the storage system 105, the DMC 111 and thebackend system 113 may be implemented on a common processing platform,or on separate processing platforms.

The host devices 102 are configured to write data to and read data fromthe storage system 105 in accordance with applications executing onthose host devices 102 for system users.

The term “user” herein is intended to be broadly construed so as toencompass numerous arrangements of human, hardware, software or firmwareentities, as well as combinations of such entities. Compute and/orstorage services may be provided for users under a Platform-as-a-Service(PaaS) model, although it is to be appreciated that numerous other cloudinfrastructure arrangements could be used. Also, illustrativeembodiments can be implemented outside of the cloud infrastructurecontext, as in the case of a stand-alone computing and storage systemimplemented within a given enterprise.

The network 104 is assumed to comprise a portion of a global computernetwork such as the Internet, although other types of networks can bepart of the network 104, including a wide area network (WAN), a localarea network (LAN), a satellite network, a telephone or cable network, acellular network, a wireless network such as a WiFi or WiMAX network, orvarious portions or combinations of these and other types of networks.The network 104 in some embodiments therefore comprises combinations ofmultiple different types of networks each comprising processing devicesconfigured to communicate using Internet Protocol (IP) or othercommunication protocols.

As a more particular example, some embodiments may utilize one or morehigh-speed local networks in which associated processing devicescommunicate with one another utilizing Peripheral Component Interconnectexpress (PCIe) cards of those devices, and networking protocols such asInfiniBand, Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel. Numerous alternativenetworking arrangements are possible in a given embodiment, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art.

The storage system 105 is accessible to the host devices 102 over thenetwork 104. The storage system 105 comprises a plurality of storagedevices 106 and an associated storage controller 108. The storagedevices 106 store datasets 110, which may comprise logical storagevolumes, snapshots or other arrangements of data.

The storage devices 106 illustratively comprise solid state drives(SSDs). Such SSDs are implemented using non-volatile memory (NVM)devices such as flash memory. Other types of NVM devices that can beused to implement at least a portion of the storage devices 106 includenon-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), phase-change RAM (PC-RAM) andmagnetic RAM (MRAM). These and various combinations of multipledifferent types of NVM devices may also be used.

However, it is to be appreciated that other types of storage devices canbe used in other embodiments. For example, a given storage system as theterm is broadly used herein can include a combination of different typesof storage devices, as in the case of a multi-tier storage systemcomprising a flash-based fast tier and a disk-based capacity tier. Insuch an embodiment, each of the fast tier and the capacity tier of themulti-tier storage system comprises a plurality of storage devices withdifferent types of storage devices being used in different ones of thestorage tiers. For example, the fast tier may comprise flash driveswhile the capacity tier comprises hard disk drives. The particularstorage devices used in a given storage tier may be varied in otherembodiments, and multiple distinct storage device types may be usedwithin a single storage tier. The term “storage device” as used hereinis intended to be broadly construed, so as to encompass, for example,flash drives, solid state drives, hard disk drives, hybrid drives orother types of storage devices.

In some embodiments, the storage system 105 illustratively comprises ascale-out all-flash content addressable storage array. Other types ofstorage arrays can be used to implement storage system 105 in otherembodiments.

The storage controller 108 comprises processing devices, memory, orother circuitry that may be utilized, for example, to service IOoperations that are received from the host devices 102 or any otheroperations associated with the storage system 105. While storagecontroller 108 may be described as comprising particular configurationsherein, storage controller 108 is not limited to the disclosedembodiments and may comprise any other configuration of electrical andsoftware components.

The term “storage system” as used herein is therefore intended to bebroadly construed and should not be viewed as being limited to contentaddressable storage systems or flash-based storage systems. A givenstorage system as the term is broadly used herein can comprise, forexample, network-attached storage (NAS), storage area networks (SANs),direct-attached storage (DAS) and distributed DAS, as well ascombinations of these and other storage types, includingsoftware-defined storage.

Other particular types of storage products that can be used inimplementing storage system 105 in illustrative embodiments includeall-flash and hybrid flash storage arrays, software-defined storageproducts, cloud storage products, object-based storage products andscale-out NAS clusters comprising platform nodes and associatedaccelerators. Combinations of multiple ones of these and other storageproducts can also be used in implementing a given storage system in anillustrative embodiment.

The storage system 105 should also be understood to include additionalmodules and other components typically found in conventionalimplementations of storage systems, although such additional modules andother components are omitted from the figure for clarity and simplicityof illustration.

The DMC 111 comprises processing devices, memory, or other circuitrythat may be utilized to manage and support the information processingsystem 100. In some embodiments, DMC 111 comprises NTP logic 112 that isconfigured to manage the NTP configuration for the components of theinformation processing system 100 including, for example, host devices102, storage system 105, VMs, containers, or other components of theinformation processing system 100 for which NTP synchronization may beneeded. In illustrative embodiments, NTP is provided as one example of anetwork time parameter that may be utilized. While illustrativeembodiments are described herein with reference to NTP, any othernetwork time parameter, protocol or configuration may be alternativelyutilized.

The backend system 113 comprises processing devices, memory, or othercircuitry that may be utilized to collect and monitor the othercomponents of the information processing system 100 including, forexample, monitoring component health, detecting failures and orderingand shipping replacement parts to the customer datacenters.

The host devices 102, the storage system 105, the DMC 111 and thebackend system 113 may be implemented on respective distinct processingplatforms, although numerous other arrangements are possible. Forexample, in some embodiments at least portions of the host devices 102,the storage system 105, the DMC 111 and the backend system 113 areimplemented on the same processing platform. The storage system 105 canbe implemented at least in part within at least one processing platformthat implements at least a portion of the host devices 102, DMC 111 orbackend system 113. Similarly, the DMC 111 can be implemented at leastin part within at least one processing platform that implements at leasta portion of the host devices 102, storage system 105 or backend system113. Likewise, the backend system 113 can be implemented at least inpart within at least one processing platform that implements at least aportion of the host devices 102, storage system 105 or DMC 111.

The term “processing platform” as used herein is intended to be broadlyconstrued so as to encompass, by way of illustration and withoutlimitation, multiple sets of processing devices and associated storagesystems that are configured to communicate over one or more networks.For example, distributed implementations of the system 100 are possible,in which certain components of the system reside in one data center in afirst geographic location while other components of the system reside inone or more other data centers in one or more other geographic locationsthat are potentially remote from the first geographic location. Thus, itis possible in some implementations of the system 100 for the hostdevices 102, storage system 105, DMC 111 and backend system 113 toreside in different data centers. Numerous other distributedimplementations of one or more of the host devices 102, the storagesystem 105, DMC 111 and backend system 113 are possible. Accordingly,the host devices 102, storage system 105, DMC 111 and backend system 113can also be implemented in a distributed manner across multiple datacenters.

Additional examples of processing platforms utilized to implement hostdevices, storage systems, DMCs or backend systems in illustrativeembodiments will be described in more detail below in conjunction withFIGS. 11 and 12 .

It is to be appreciated that these and other features of illustrativeembodiments are presented by way of example only and should not beconstrued as limiting in any way.

Accordingly, different numbers, types and arrangements of systemcomponents such as host devices 102, network 104, storage system 105,storage devices 106, storage controller 108, datasets 110, DMC 111,backend system 113 and NTP logic 112 can be used in other embodiments.

It should be understood that the particular sets of modules and othercomponents implemented in the system 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1 arepresented by way of example only. In other embodiments, only subsets ofthese components, or additional or alternative sets of components, maybe used, and such components may exhibit alternative functionality andconfigurations.

For example, in other embodiments, the functionality for the NTP logic112 can be implemented in the DMC, in the backend system, in the storagesystem, in one or more host devices, partially in the DMC, partially ina host device, partially in a storage system, partially in the backendsystem, or any combination thereof. Accordingly, illustrativeembodiments are not limited to arrangements in which all suchfunctionality is implemented in a DMC, a storage system, a backendsystem or a host device, and therefore encompass various hybridarrangements in which the functionality is distributed over one or moreDMCs, one or more storage systems, one or more backend systems and oneor more associated host devices, each comprising one or more processingdevices.

In a cloud datacenter environment, where there may be a mandate that allservers stay in the same time zone, the NTP may be configured to thehost devices based on the customer's geographical location. The labadministrators often have to manually configure the NTP settings for allof the host devices which are part of the same cluster.

With reference now to FIG. 2 , an example cloud datacenter environment200 is illustrated. The cloud datacenter environment 200 comprisesVMs/containers 202, a hypervisor host 204, a physical server 206 suchas, e.g., a baseboard management controller (BMC) or a chassismanagement controller (CMC), and a DMC 208. While described singularly,cloud data center environment 200 may comprise more than oneVM/container 202, hypervisor host 204, physical server 206 and DMC 208which may be individually or collectively referred to hereinrespectively as VMs/containers 202, hypervisor hosts 204, physicalservers 206 and DMCs 208. In some embodiments, cloud datacenterenvironment 200 may comprise some or all of the features of informationprocessing system 100 as described with reference to FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , each cluster or component may be running with adifferent NTP setting based on how it is configured. For example, theDMC 208 may be running an NTP of GMT+5:30, the physical server 206 maybe running an NTP of GMT-4, the hypervisor host 204 may be running anNTP of UTC+1 and the VM/Container may be running an NTP of UTC+1.Ensuring that the NTP configuration for the host devices in a clusterare the same as the cluster NTP often requires significant manual effortand may be a time-consuming task for the lab administrator. Such manualconfigurations may also be prone to a potential configuration error. Insome cases, there may be a time mismatch between the DMC and thephysical server, hypervisor host and VM/container which may cause orexpose potential functional and security challenges.

Some example types of cyber-attacks may include session hijacking,sniffers and distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. Sessionhijacking is a type of hacking that may occur when an attacker gainsaccess to the session state of a particular user. The attacker then usesthe valid session ID to access the server/host. In such a case, all ofthe login logs and entries may be hidden due to a time mismatch. Asniffer is a program or device that captures the vital information fromthe network traffic specific to a particular network such as, e.g.,passwords, email, the web addresses, etc. A DDOS attack is a maliciousattempt to disrupt normal traffic to a web property.

Digital forensics may be utilized to identify or track cyber-attacks.Digital forensics is a process of preservation, identification,extraction and documentation of computer evidence that can be used laterby a court of law or in support of post cyber-attack activities such asidentification of security breaches and misconfigurations.

In one example scenario, an NTP misconfiguration creates a securityloophole that can potentially lead to both internal and externalcyber-attacks. When an NTP is configured incorrectly, hackers mayutilize forensic or hacking tools that can set or edit the date and timewith a different value. This date and time editing may cause the logfiles to be reconstructed which may make it possible for a user to avoidhaving information logged relating to login/authentications or systemimportant activities for some brief interval of time which may enable abreach and help destroy evidence for forensic investigations either aspart of internal or external attacks. For example, if the server hasbeen configured with a lag of two days from the current time and anattacking user accesses the server, the server generates an alert/logfor the attacking user accessing the system. However, the log istriggered or reported two days back in time in the logs list due to theserver NTP configuration which will not necessarily be visible to thelab administrator. In some scenarios, a cyber-attack also may utilize atime mismatch to create a security loophole.

In another example scenario, the NTP configuration settings for eachhost device in a cluster environment needs to be configured with somemanual intelligence. For example, a clock skew may be detected due to anNTP configuration mismatch between the host devices and the cluster.Clock skew, sometimes called timing skew, is a phenomenon in synchronousdigital circuit systems such as computer systems in which the samesourced clock signal arrives at different components at different times.The instantaneous difference between the readings of any two clocks iscalled their skew. Such a clock skew is one of the most common reasonsfor VM migration failures in production and may lead to are-initialization of migration activities, migration failures,inaccessible shares or host devices that are out of domain.

There are many issues related to NTP misconfigurations that are reportedto a technical support team. These NTP misconfigurations often requiresubstantial time, effort and resources of the technical support team foranalyzing and fixing the time related issues. For example, depending onthe volume of reported issues, it may take anywhere from, for example,7-24 days on average for an issue to be addressed and closed.

With reference now to FIG. 3 , a table 300 illustrates two exampleissues that may be reported by users of a cloud environment. As seen inFIG. 3 , for example, even in a cloud environment, NTP and timemisconfigurations may create operational and security issues. As anexample, in issue PSE-6319 the user has ten cloud tenants where eighttenant racks can communicate with an NTP server and the other two tenantracks are in a cloud environment. The other two tenant racks aremisconfigured with the NTP server which has resulted in operationalfailures. As mentioned above, such an NTP issue may impact both theoperation and the security of the information processing system.

The NTP logic 112 (FIG. 1 ) of the DMC 111 implements NTP configurationfunctionality that provides end-to-end automated intelligence toidentify the appropriate NTP configurations based on, for example, thecustomer's geographical location and cluster to host device to VMconfigurations. The NTP configuration functionality utilizes data storedon a backend system 113 (FIG. 1 ) such as, e.g., a backend technicalsupport server, to identify the location of the corresponding datacenterand to apply the appropriate NTP configuration. The backend system 113may comprise, for example, one or more servers or computing devicesassociated with the vendor or management entity of the clusters or hostdevices on which the customer's data is stored.

Using an operating system (OS) passthrough channel such as a technicalsupport software, information about the hypervisor may be collectedincluding, for example, the host cluster names, cluster details, whatVMs are hosted on the host devices of the clusters, hypervisor hostresource utilization and health details, or other information about thehost devices, hypervisor, VMs and clusters.

The NTP configuration functionality enhances the DMC 111 by generatinglogical host groups (LHGs) for easy management of cluster, host deviceand VM relationships with respect to the NTP. For example, in someembodiments, whichever host devices 102 are part of the same cluster maybe added on to same LHG in the DMC 111.

When there is an NTP configuration mismatch or a clock skew is detectedbetween the hypervisor host 204 and the DMC 208 of FIG. 2 , an alert maybe generated and sent to the backend system 113 of FIG. 1 using anexisting alert channel and logging mechanism of the backend system 113.

When a new host device, server or host is added to the DMC 111, the NTPfor that new device, server or host may be automatically configured andmaintained without any further human intervention using the NTPconfiguration functionality where, for example, the new host device isadded to a corresponding LHG.

In some example scenarios, customers may operate the servers fromdifferent geographical locations where multiple NTP configurationsprovide an option to the lab administrator to configure theregion-specific time zone for a particular LHG. Hosts/VMs which are partof that LHG will then have their NTP configured as a group according totheir region-specific time zone. FIG. 4 shows an example process andconfiguration 400 of the NTP configuration functionality implemented byNTP logic 112 according to an illustrative embodiment. The variousstages and components of the process 400 of FIG. 4 will now be describedin more detail with reference also to FIGS. 5-9 .

At stage 1, with reference FIG. 5 , a hypervisor information collector(HIC) 500 of DMC 208 is utilized to obtain information about thehypervisor host 204 and other components of the system such as, e.g.,physical servers 206, VM/containers 202, etc. For example, the HIC 500is configured to cause technical support software or support assistancesoftware 502 to communicate with the BMC of one or more servers 206which uses components such as a remote access controller service module(ISM)/universal serial bus network interface card (USB NIC) 504 toaccess the OS of the hypervisor host 204. The DMC 208 is then able tocollect the server/host telemetry details using an OS pass-throughhypervisor internal communication channel 506 to access the VMs 202. Forexample, the HIC 500 utilizes the hypervisor internal communicationchannel 506 to collect information about the hypervisor such as the hostcluster's name, host details of different clusters, information aboutthe different hosted VMs 202, or other similar information. In somecases, the DMC 208 may be utilized by the lab administrator to discoverthe IP range of the servers in the datacenter and the HIC 500 isutilized to collect the required information. Depending on theparticular types of cluster, hypervisor OS or VMs involved, variouscommands may be utilized by the HIC 500 to collect information from theBMCs of the physical servers 206, the OS of the hypervisor host 204 andVMs 202. For example, a getconfig command may be utilized to obtainphysical server configuration information and a getsysinfo command maybe utilized to obtain software and firmware information.

At stage 2, the NTP logic 112 implemented NTP configurationfunctionality generates LHGs. As shown in FIG. 6 , DMC 208 communicateswith the hypervisor host 204 via technical support software or supportassistance software 502, e.g., using the HIC 500, in a similar manner tothat described above for FIG. 5 . LHGs are automatically generated bythe NTP configuration functionality in the DMC 208 using the informationobtained by the HIC 500 for the hypervisor host 204 and any clusters,e.g., clusters A, B . . . M, managed by the hypervisor host 204 via theISM/USB NIC 504. As shown in FIG. 6 , an LHG may be generated for eachcorresponding cluster. For example, an LHG A may be generated forcluster A, an LHG B may be generated for cluster B . . . and an LHG Mmay be generated for cluster M. Each cluster comprises a plurality ofhost devices, e.g., hosts 1, 2 . . . J for cluster A, hosts 1, 2 . . . Kfor cluster B and hosts 1, 2 . . . L for cluster M, which arecollectively managed by the LHG for that cluster. While described withdifferent letters, any of clusters A-M may have the same number of hostdevices or a different number of host devices.

An LHG is a monitoring folder which gets generated automatically in theDMC 208 by the NTP configuration functionality and any discoveredservers or hosts are added to the appropriate LHG based on its cluster'sconfiguration. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , cluster A has J hostdevices, cluster B has K host devices and cluster M has L host devices.In this example, an LHG is created for each cluster and includes allhost devices that are part of that cluster.

In some embodiments, a given LHG may comprise multiple clusters or asub-set of the host devices in a particular cluster. In someembodiments, host devices may be linked together in a LHG without beingpart of the same cluster or without even being part of a cluster. Insome embodiments, the time zone of the host devices may dictate whichLHG they are added to rather than which cluster they are a part of. Insome embodiments, host devices found in the same time zone may beincluded in different LHGs. In some embodiments, the LHG may comprise alimited number of host devices where, for example, excess host devicesmay be grouped into another LHG even if the criteria for including thehost devices in the same LHG are met.

At stage 3, with reference also now to FIG. 7 , the information andother data collected by HIC 500 in stage 1 is classified into BMCinformation 700, hypervisor OS information 702 and VM information 704and is analyzed by an NTP Mismatch Analyzer (NMA) 706 to determinewhether or not there are any time mismatches. When an NTP mismatch isdetected in any of the BMC information 700, hypervisor OS information702 or VM information 704 by the NMA 706, the NMA 706 is configured togenerate an alert 708 and provide the alert 708 to the lab administratorof the DMC 208, e.g., via SNMP. In some embodiments NMA 706 isimplemented by the DMC 208.

In a typical system, whenever there is a time mismatch of more than oneday, a web browser provides a warning message for a wrong timeconfiguration. However, if the time difference is less than a day, theweb browser typically does not provide any warning message about thetime interval of the mismatch. Given that this mismatch may occur due toan incorrect NTP or time zone configuration, which may have a few hoursof time difference from the actual time, such functionality may not besufficient to inhibit or correct a potential security issue. In such acase, the NMA 706 is configured to analyze the information collected bythe HIC 500 to determine whether there are any time mismatches betweenthe BMC, Hypervisor Hosts and VMs, including time mismatches that areless than a day, and provide an alert 708 to the lab administrator ofthe DMC 208.

An example process implemented by the NMA 706 for identifying an NTPmismatch will now be described. Timestamps are captured by the HIC 500in stage 1 for all of the different nodes, e.g., DMC 208, BMC managementof the physical servers 206, hypervisor hosts 204, and VM/containers202. As illustrated in the node diagram 800 of FIG. 8 , root time T1 isthe time on the DMC 208, time T2 is the time on physical servers 206,time T3 is the time on the hypervisor hosts 204 and time T4 is the timeon VM/containers 202.

Based on this information, a time mismatch may be calculated by the NMA706 according to equations (1)-(6) as follows:

Time difference between root DMC 208 and the physical server 206:T1−T2=0>No alert generated  (1)HT1−T21>0==>Alert 708 generated(LogID:001)  (2)

Time difference between root DMC 208 and hypervisor host 204:T1−T3=0>No alert generated  (3)T31>0==>Alert 708 generated(LogID:002)  (4)

Time difference between root DMC 208 and VM/container 202:T1−T4=0>No alert generated  (5)T41>0==>Alert 708 generated(LogID:003)  (6)

The NMA 706 generates the appropriate alert 708 based on equations(1)-(6) if there are any time differences between the root DMC 208 andany of the other components such as, e.g., the physical server 206, thehypervisor host 204, the VM/container 202 or any other component. Forexample, according to equations (1), (3) and (5), if the time differenceis 0, no alert 708 is generated. However, according to equations (2),(4) and (6), if there is any time difference between the root DMC 208and the corresponding component, a corresponding alert 708 is generatedby the NMA 706 for that component. For example, the LogID value of thealert 708 may correspond to the particular component that has the timedifference, e.g., 001 for the physical server 206, 002 for thehypervisor host 204 and 003 for the VM/container 202. In someembodiments, a relatively small time difference such as, e.g., less thana few seconds, less than a few minutes or any other amount of time, maynot trigger an alert.

At stage 4, with reference to FIG. 9 , an NTP configuration PredictingEngine (NCPE) 900 implemented by the DMC 208 is configured to take anaction in response to an alert 708. In some embodiments, as part of atechnical support registration process, a customer may provide addressand location details for their clusters, servers and host devices to thebackend system 113. For example, the customer may provide these detailsin order to take advantage of functionality for the automaticreplacement and shipment of hardware to the customer's datacenter.

The NCPE 900 connects to the backend system 113 and obtains theinformation provided by the customer to identify the geographicallocation of the customer datacenter 402 (FIG. 4 ) or other devices andobtain other information related to the customer's data center or otherdevices. The NCPE 900 builds an NTP time configuration for thecustomer's datacenter, host devices 102, physical servers 206,hypervisor hosts 204 and VMs/containers 202 based on this information.For example, NCPE 900 may issue commands to the backend system 113 toobtain the customer information.

The NCPE 900 utilizes a global NTP server IP address along with theidentified time zone or geographic location for the customer'sdatacenter 402 to generate an NTP configuration 902 for that datacenter402. For example, if the customer is operating the servers from morethan one geographical location, an NTP configuration 902 provides anoption for a lab administrator to configure the region-specific timezone for the particular LHG that comprises those servers. For example,NCPE 900 may generate an NTP configuration 902 for the host devices 102,hypervisor hosts 204, physical servers 206 and VM/containers 202 whichare part of the same LHG according to the information about the customerdatacenter that is obtained from the backend system 113 by the NCPE 900.As an example, where the host device 102, hypervisor hosts 204, physicalservers 206 and VM/containers 202 are located in different regions, orregions different than the DMC 208, the NTP configuration 902 maycomprise a target NTP time that corresponds to one of those regions,e.g., UTC+1. In such a case, the physical server 206 and DMC 208 wouldalso be configured to the target time of UTC+1 to inhibit the occurrenceof any time mismatches based on the NTP configuration 902. For example,the DMC 208 may provide the NTP configuration to the datacenter 402 tocause configuration changes on the devices of the datacenter 402 to thetarget time.

The disclosed NTP configuration functionality implemented by the NTPlogic 112 provides end to end intelligence to manage the NTPconfigurations of the physical servers 206, hypervisor hosts 204 andVM/containers 202 via the DMC 208 by grouping related system componentsinto LHGs. NTP time misconfigurations are identified and alerted to theDMC 208 utilizing the NMA 706 for devices that are under the samelogical umbrella, e.g., in the same LHG. This enables the DMC 208 totake a pro-active action to generate an NTP configuration 902 forreconfiguring the NTPs of the system components utilizing the NCPE 900.The NTP configuration 902 may then be implemented before the customer iseven aware that there may be an issue related to an NTP timemisconfiguration. As noted above, the NTP configuration functionalityalso handles mismatches even when the difference between the times isless than 24 hours.

The functionality of NCPE 900 analyzes all of the different availableconfigurations of VMs, host devices and clusters and provides arecommendation to the lab administrator with the best fit NTPconfiguration 902 of the NTP across the different VMs, host devices andclusters by using the available set of different NTP configurations 902specified in the LHGs.

In one example scenario, a datacenter has the same NTP for all physicalservers 206, hypervisor hosts 204 and VM/clusters 202 in a cluster. TheNTP configuration functionality generates an LHG in the DMC 208 based onthe cluster and obtains the geographical location of the datacenter byusing the HIC 500 to connect to the backend system 113. Based on theobtained datacenter geographical location, the NCPE 900 creates the NTPconfiguration 902 and the DMC 208 applies the configuration to all ofthe physical servers 206, hypervisor hosts 204 and VM/clusters 202 whichare included in the LHG as part of the datacenter clusters by using theexisting pass-through channels. Whenever a new physical server 206,hypervisor host 204 or VM/container 202 is added to DMC 208, the newphysical server 206, hypervisor host 204 or VM/container 202 is added tothe corresponding LHG for that cluster and the NTP configuration 902 forthat new physical server 206, hypervisor host 204 or VM/container 202 isautomatically configured. In such embodiments, the NTP configurationfunctionality may be fully automated without requiring further userintervention.

In another example scenario, a customer datacenter has different NTPsbased on the locations for the physical server 206, hypervisor host 204and VM/container 202. In such an example scenario, the NTP configurationfunctionality generates an LHG based on the cluster and utilizes the HIC500 to obtain the geographical location of the datacenter from thebackend system 113. Along with default NTPs which were created based ongeographical locations, a lab administrator also is given the option tocreate a customized NTP for the specific LHG. For example, the DMC 208and the physical server 206 may be hosted and managed in Asia/Kolkataand the hypervisor hosts 204 and VM/containers 202 may be hostedUK/London. In this case, the lab administrator may assign all of thesecomponents, e.g., the physical server 206, hypervisor host 204 andVM/container 202, to the same LHG and assign a target NTP to the LHG,e.g., the Asia/Kolkata time of the DMC 208, such that the Nap's physicalserver 206, hypervisor host 204 and VM/container 202 are configured withthe NTP time of the DMC 208, e.g., the Asia/Kolkata. In such anembodiment, the NTP configuration functionality may be partiallyautomated and may also act based on received user inputs from the labadministrator which select a target NTP time to be used for the entireLHG.

Illustrative embodiments of the techniques and NTP configurationfunctionality implemented by NTP logic 112 will now be described in moredetail with reference to the example process shown in the flow diagramof FIG. 10 . The process as shown in FIG. 10 includes steps 1000 through1004 and is suitable for use in the system 100 but is more generallyapplicable to other types of systems comprising multiple host devicesand a shared storage system. The process will be described withreference also to FIGS. 2-9 .

At step 1000, the NTP configuration functionality implemented by NTPlogic 112 assigns a plurality of devices of a cluster to an LHG in theDMC 208. For example, the devices may be assigned according to theircluster, geographic location or in any of the other manners describedabove. In this example process, at least one of the devices assigned tothe LHG may have an NTP time that is different than another of thedevices assigned to the LHG.

At step 1002, the NTP configuration functionality determines a targetnetwork time parameter for the LHG based at least in part on networktime parameter related information about a given device of the pluralityof devices assigned to the LHG. For example, the HIC 500 may obtaininformation about the various devices that are assigned to the LHGeither directly via hypervisor related interfaces such as described withreference to FIG. 5 or from the backend system 113. The target networktime parameter may be determined based on, for example, a geographicregion in which one or more of the devices is located, a geographicregion associated with the DMC or in any of the other manners describedabove.

At step 1004, the NTP configuration functionality causes the pluralityof devices to configure their respective network time parameters to thetarget network time parameter based at least in part on the assignmentof the plurality of devices to the LHG. For example, the NCPE 900 maygenerate an NTP configuration 902 for the LHG that is utilized by theDMC 208 to cause a configuration of the respective network timeparameters of the devices to the target network time parameter.

It is to be understood that for any methodologies described herein withreference to the flow diagram of FIG. 10 , the ordering of the processsteps may be varied in other embodiments, or certain steps may beperformed at least in part concurrently with one another rather thanserially. Also, one or more of the process steps may be repeatedperiodically, or multiple instances of the process can be performed inparallel with one another in order to implement a plurality of differentprocesses for different storage systems.

Functionality such as that described herein can be implemented at leastin part in the form of one or more software programs stored in memoryand executed by a processor of a processing device such as a computer orserver. As will be described below, a memory or other storage devicehaving executable program code of one or more software programs embodiedtherein is an example of what is more generally referred to herein as a“processor-readable storage medium.”

For example, a host device such as host device 102 or a storagecontroller such as storage controller 108 that is configured to controlperformance of one or more steps described herein can be implemented aspart of what is more generally referred to herein as a processingplatform comprising one or more processing devices each comprising aprocessor coupled to a memory. Such processing devices are to bedistinguished from processing devices referred to herein with respect tothe processing capabilities of the SSDs. In the case of a host device orstorage controller, a given such processing device may correspond to oneor more virtual machines or other types of virtualization infrastructuresuch as Docker containers or Linux containers (LXCs). The host device102 or the storage controller 108, as well as other system components,may be implemented at least in part using processing devices of suchprocessing platforms. For example, in a distributed implementation ofthe storage controller 108, respective distributed modules of such astorage controller can be implemented in respective containers runningon respective ones of the processing devices of a processing platform.

Illustrative embodiments of processing platforms utilized to implementhost devices and storage systems with NTP configuration functionalitywill now be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 11 and12 . Although described in the context of system 100, these platformsmay also be used to implement at least portions of other informationprocessing systems in other embodiments.

FIG. 11 shows an example processing platform comprising cloudinfrastructure 1100. The cloud infrastructure 1100 comprises acombination of physical and virtual processing resources that may beutilized to implement at least a portion of the information processingsystem 100. The cloud infrastructure 1100 comprises multiple virtualmachines (VMs) and/or container sets 1102-1, 1102-2, . . . 1102-Limplemented using virtualization infrastructure 1104. The virtualizationinfrastructure 1104 runs on physical infrastructure 1105, andillustratively comprises one or more hypervisors and/or operating systemlevel virtualization infrastructure. The operating system levelvirtualization infrastructure illustratively comprises kernel controlgroups of a Linux operating system or other type of operating system.

The cloud infrastructure 1100 further comprises sets of applications1110-1, 1110-2, . . . 1110-L running on respective ones of theVMs/container sets 1102-1, 1102-2, . . . 1102-L under the control of thevirtualization infrastructure 1104. The VMs/container sets 1102 maycomprise respective VMs, respective sets of one or more containers, orrespective sets of one or more containers running in VMs.

In some implementations of the FIG. 11 embodiment, the VMs/containersets 1102 comprise respective VMs implemented using virtualizationinfrastructure 1104 that comprises at least one hypervisor. Suchimplementations can provide functionality of the type described above inthe illustrative embodiments for one or more processes running on agiven one of the VMs. For example, each of the VMs can implement theabove-described functionality of the illustrative embodiments in thesystem 100.

A hypervisor platform that implements a hypervisor within thevirtualization infrastructure 1104 may comprise an associated virtualinfrastructure management system. The underlying physical machines maycomprise one or more distributed processing platforms that include oneor more storage systems.

In other implementations of the FIG. 11 embodiment, the VMs/containersets 1102 comprise respective containers implemented usingvirtualization infrastructure 1104 that provides operating system levelvirtualization functionality, such as support for Docker containersrunning on bare metal hosts, or Docker containers running on VMs. Thecontainers are illustratively implemented using respective kernelcontrol groups of the operating system. Such implementations can alsoprovide functionality of the type described above in the illustrativeembodiments. For example, a container host device supporting multiplecontainers of one or more container sets can implement one or more coresexecuting the above-described functionality of the illustrativeembodiments.

As is apparent from the above, one or more of the processing modules orother components of system 100 may each run on a computer, server,storage device or other processing platform element. A given suchelement may be viewed as an example of what is more generally referredto herein as a “processing device.” The cloud infrastructure 1100 shownin FIG. 11 may represent at least a portion of one processing platform.Another example of such a processing platform is processing platform1200 shown in FIG. 12 .

The processing platform 1200 in this embodiment comprises a portion ofsystem 100 and includes a plurality of processing devices, denoted1202-1, 1202-2, 1202-3, . . . 1202-K, which communicate with one anotherover a network 1204.

The network 1204 may comprise any type of network, including by way ofexample a global computer network such as the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, asatellite network, a telephone or cable network, a cellular network, awireless network such as a WiFi or WiMAX network, or various portions orcombinations of these and other types of networks.

The processing device 1202-1 in the processing platform 1200 comprises aprocessor 1210 coupled to a memory 1212.

The processor 1210 may comprise a microprocessor, a microcontroller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmablegate array (FPGA) or other type of processing circuitry, as well asportions or combinations of such circuitry elements.

The memory 1212 may comprise random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), flash memory or other types of memory, in any combination.The memory 1212 and other memories disclosed herein should be viewed asillustrative examples of what are more generally referred to as“processor-readable storage media” storing executable program code ofone or more software programs.

Articles of manufacture comprising such processor-readable storage mediaare considered illustrative embodiments. A given such article ofmanufacture may comprise, for example, a storage array, a storage diskor an integrated circuit containing RAM, ROM, flash memory or otherelectronic memory, or any of a wide variety of other types of computerprogram products. The term “article of manufacture” as used hereinshould be understood to exclude transitory, propagating signals.Numerous other types of computer program products comprisingprocessor-readable storage media can be used.

Also included in the processing device 1202-1 is network interfacecircuitry 1214, which is used to interface the processing device withthe network 1204 and other system components, and may compriseconventional transceivers.

The other processing devices 1202 of the processing platform 1200 areassumed to be configured in a manner similar to that shown forprocessing device 1202-1 in the figure.

Again, the particular processing platform 1200 shown in the figure ispresented by way of example only, and system 100 may include additionalor alternative processing platforms, as well as numerous distinctprocessing platforms in any combination, with each such platformcomprising one or more computers, servers, storage devices or otherprocessing devices.

For example, other processing platforms used to implement illustrativeembodiments can comprise converged infrastructure.

It should therefore be understood that in other embodiments differentarrangements of additional or alternative elements may be used. At leasta subset of these elements may be collectively implemented on a commonprocessing platform, or each such element may be implemented on aseparate processing platform.

As indicated previously, components of an information processing systemas disclosed herein can be implemented at least in part in the form ofone or more software programs stored in memory and executed by aprocessor of a processing device. For example, at least portions of thefunctionality of one or more components of a storage system as disclosedabove in the illustrative embodiments are illustratively implemented inthe form of software running on one or more processing devices.

It should again be emphasized that the above-described embodiments arepresented for purposes of illustration only. Many variations and otheralternative embodiments may be used. For example, the disclosedtechniques and functionality described above in the illustrativeembodiments are applicable to a wide variety of other types ofinformation processing systems, host devices, storage systems, DMCs,backend systems or other systems. Also, the particular configurations ofsystem and device elements and associated processing operationsillustratively shown in the drawings can be varied in other embodiments.Moreover, the various assumptions made above in the course of describingthe illustrative embodiments should also be viewed as exemplary ratherthan as requirements or limitations of the disclosure. Numerous otheralternative embodiments within the scope of the appended claims will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising at least one processingdevice comprising a processor coupled to memory, the at least oneprocessing device being configured: to assign a plurality of devices ofa cluster to a logical host group, wherein at least one of the devicesassigned to the logical host group has a network time parameter that isdifferent than another of the devices assigned to the logical hostgroup; to determine a target network time parameter for the logical hostgroup based at least in part on network time parameter relatedinformation about a given device of the plurality of devices assigned tothe logical host group; and to cause the plurality of devices toconfigure their respective network time parameters to the target networktime parameter based at least in part on the assignment of the pluralityof devices to the logical host group; wherein the logical host group ismanaged by a device management console; wherein the at least oneprocessing device is further configured: to issue a command to a supportsystem, the command requesting the network time parameter relatedinformation about the given device; and to obtain the network timeparameter related information about the given device from the supportsystem in response to the command; wherein determining the targetnetwork time parameter for the logical host group based at least in parton the network time parameter related information about the given devicecomprises determining the target network time parameter based at leastin part on the network time parameter related information obtained inresponse to the command from the support system; and wherein the atleast one processing device is further configured: to determine thatthere is a network time parameter mismatch between at least one of theplurality of devices assigned to the logical host group and the devicemanagement console; and responsive to the network time parametermismatch exceeding a designated threshold, to generate an alert.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the support system comprises a backendtechnical support system.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein thenetwork time parameter related information comprises a geographicalregion in which the given device is located.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1wherein assigning the plurality of devices to the logical host groupcomprises assigning a physical server, a hypervisor host and a virtualmachine to the logical host group.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 whereincausing the plurality of devices to configure their respective networktime parameters to the target network time parameter comprises causingthe plurality of devices to configure their respective network timeparameters to the target network time parameter based at least in parton the determination that there is a network time parameter mismatchbetween the at least one of the plurality of devices assigned to thelogical host group and the device management console.
 6. The apparatusof claim 5 wherein determining that there is a network time parametermismatch in the plurality of devices assigned to the logical host groupcomprises: comparing a network time parameter of the device managementconsole to a network time parameter of the at least one of the pluralityof devices; determining, based at least in part on the comparison, thatthere is a difference between the network time parameter of the devicemanagement console and the network time parameter of the at least one ofthe plurality of devices; and determining that there is a time mismatchbased at least in part on the determination that there is a differencebetween the network time parameter of the device management console andthe network time parameter of the at least one of the plurality ofdevices.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1: wherein the cluster comprises afirst cluster; wherein the device management console is configured tomanage a plurality of clusters comprising the first cluster and at leasta second cluster; and wherein the at least one processing device isfurther configured: to assign a second plurality of devices of thesecond cluster to a second logical host group in the device managementconsole; to determine a second target network time parameter for thesecond logical host group on network time parameter related informationabout a second device of the second plurality of devices assigned to thesecond logical host group; and to cause the second plurality of devicesto configure their respective network time parameters to the secondtarget network time parameter based at least in part on the assignmentof the second plurality of devices to the second logical host group. 8.A method comprising: assigning a plurality of devices of a cluster to alogical host group, wherein at least one of the devices assigned to thelogical host group has a network time parameter that is different thananother of the devices assigned to the logical host group; determining atarget network time parameter for the logical host group based at leastin part on network time parameter related information about a givendevice of the plurality of devices assigned to the logical host group;and causing the plurality of devices to configure their respectivenetwork time parameters to the target network time parameter based atleast in part on the assignment of the plurality of devices to thelogical host group; wherein the logical host group is managed by adevice management console; wherein the method further comprises: issuinga command to a support system, the command requesting the network timeparameter related information about the given device; and obtaining thenetwork time parameter related information about the given device fromthe support system in response to the command; wherein determining thetarget network time parameter for the logical host group based at leastin part on the network time parameter related information about thegiven device comprises determining the target network time parameterbased at least in part on the network time parameter related informationobtained in response to the command from the support system; wherein themethod further comprises: determining that there is a network timeparameter mismatch between at least one of the plurality of devicesassigned to the logical host group and the device management console;and responsive to the network time parameter mismatch exceeding adesignated threshold, generating an alert; and wherein the method isimplemented by at least one processing device comprising a processorcoupled to memory.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the support systemcomprises a backend technical support system.
 10. The method of claim 9wherein the network time parameter related information comprises ageographical region in which the given device is located.
 11. The methodof claim 8 wherein assigning the plurality of devices to the logicalhost group comprises assigning a physical server, a hypervisor host anda virtual machine to the logical host group.
 12. The method of claim 8wherein causing the plurality of devices to configure their respectivenetwork time parameters to the target network time parameter comprisescausing the plurality of devices to configure their respective networktime parameters to the target network time parameter based at least inpart on the determination that there is a network time parametermismatch between the at least one of the plurality of devices assignedto the logical host group and the device management console.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 wherein determining that there is a network timeparameter mismatch in the plurality of devices assigned to the logicalhost group comprises: comparing a network time parameter of the devicemanagement console to a network time parameter of the at least one ofthe plurality of devices; determining, based at least in part on thecomparison, that there is a difference between the network timeparameter of the device management console and the network timeparameter of the at least one of the plurality of devices; anddetermining that there is a time mismatch based at least in part on thedetermination that there is a difference between the network timeparameter of the device management console and the network timeparameter of the at least one of the plurality of devices.
 14. Themethod of claim 8: wherein the cluster comprises a first cluster;wherein the device management console is configured to manage aplurality of clusters comprising the first cluster and at least a secondcluster; and wherein the method further comprises: assigning a secondplurality of devices of the second cluster to a second logical hostgroup in the device management console; determining a second targetnetwork time parameter for the second logical host group on network timeparameter related information about a second device of the secondplurality of devices assigned to the second logical host group; andcausing the second plurality of devices to configure their respectivenetwork time parameters to the second target network time parameterbased at least in part on the assignment of the second plurality ofdevices to the second logical host group.
 15. A computer program productcomprising a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium havingstored therein program code of one or more software programs, theprogram code being executable by at least one processing device, the atleast one processing device comprising a processor coupled to memory,wherein the program code, when executed by the at least one processingdevice, causes the at least one processing device: to assign a pluralityof devices of a cluster to a logical host group, wherein at least one ofthe devices assigned to the logical host group has a network timeparameter that is different than another of the devices assigned to thelogical host group; to determine a target network time parameter for thelogical host group based at least in part on network time parameterrelated information about a given device of the plurality of devicesassigned to the logical host group; and to cause the plurality ofdevices to configure their respective network time parameters to thetarget network time parameter based at least in part on the assignmentof the plurality of devices to the logical host group; wherein thelogical host group is managed by a device management console; whereinthe program code further causes the at least one processing device: toissue a command to a support system, the command requesting the networktime parameter related information about the given device; and to obtainthe network time parameter related information about the given devicefrom the support system in response to the command; wherein determiningthe target network time parameter for the logical host group based atleast in part on the network time parameter related information aboutthe given device comprises determining the target network time parameterbased at least in part on the network time parameter related informationobtained in response to the command from the support system; and whereinthe program code, when executed by the at least one processing device,further causes the at least one processing device: to determine thatthere is a network time parameter mismatch between at least one of theplurality of devices assigned to the logical host group and the devicemanagement console; and responsive to the network time parametermismatch exceeding a designated threshold, to generate an alert.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 15 wherein the support systemcomprises a backend technical support system.
 17. The computer programproduct of claim 16 wherein the network time parameter relatedinformation comprises a geographical region in which the given device islocated.
 18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein causingthe plurality of devices to configure their respective network timeparameters to the target network time parameter comprises causing theplurality of devices to configure their respective network timeparameters to the target network time parameter based at least in parton the determination that there is a network time parameter mismatchbetween the at least one of the plurality of devices assigned to thelogical host group and the device management console.
 19. The computerprogram product of claim 18 wherein determining that there is a networktime parameter mismatch in the plurality of devices assigned to thelogical host group comprises: comparing a network time parameter of thedevice management console to a network time parameter of the at leastone of the plurality of devices; determining, based at least in part onthe comparison, that there is a difference between the network timeparameter of the device management console and the network timeparameter of the at least one of the plurality of devices; anddetermining that there is a time mismatch based at least in part on thedetermination that there is a difference between the network timeparameter of the device management console and the network timeparameter of the at least one of the plurality of devices.
 20. Thecomputer program product of claim 15: wherein the cluster comprises afirst cluster; wherein the device management console is configured tomanage a plurality of clusters comprising the first cluster and at leasta second cluster; and wherein the program code further causes the atleast one processing device: to assign a second plurality of devices ofthe second cluster to a second logical host group in the devicemanagement console; to determine a second target network time parameterfor the second logical host group on network time parameter relatedinformation about a second device of the second plurality of devicesassigned to the second logical host group; and to cause the secondplurality of devices to configure their respective network timeparameters to the second target network time parameter based at least inpart on the assignment of the second plurality of devices to the secondlogical host group.